10 Classic Game Console Mods

In an effort to appeal to the educational side of computing, the major game console makers of the 1970s and ‘80s offered hardware modification packages. Here are ten retro game consoles that could be upgraded into programmable computers.

By technical measures, there is a fine line between PC and game console. After all, just about every console released since 1976 is a special-purpose personal computer designed for playing game software.

In a time when computers were an expensive and scarce commodity—I speak of the late 1970s—it seemed a monumental waste to own a perfectly good computer (a game console) and not be able to use it for more functional computing tasks like programming, word processing, databases, and the like. (People were also fixated on printing things; in the un-networked 1970s and '80s, any information you produced with a computer was only truly useful if you printed it out on paper.)

That sentiment led to a common marketing promise among game console makers of the late 1970s and early 1980s that their machines' computing power would not go to waste on entertainment alone. After all, what parent wouldn't feel good about buying a game console that promised to one day metamorphose into a powerful educational computer that could help Johnny with his homework?

Around that time, at least five major console manufacturers announced computer add-on units to unlock the untapped CPU power lurking beneath each console's sculpted plastic exteriors.

In the following slideshow, you will see ten game consoles that could be turned into fully programmable general-purpose PCs using commercial add-on hardware. While most hail from the 1970s and '80s, you may encounter a more recent surprise that channels the same educational spirit found in its afro-wearing, disco-dancing forebearers.

Automatic Renewal Program: Your subscription will continue without interruption for as long as you wish, unless
you instruct us otherwise. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the term unless you authorize
cancellation. Each year, you'll receive a notice and you authorize that your credit/debit card will be charged the
annual subscription rate(s). You may cancel at any time during your subscription and receive a full refund on all
unsent issues. If your credit/debit card or other billing method can not be charged, we will bill you directly instead. Contact Customer Service

Mattel Intellivision II (1983)

Mattel Intellivision II (1983)

In response to shifting fashions and economic pressures, Mattel redesigned its Intellivision console in 1983. It emerged as the "Intellivision II" in a compact, lower-cost, light gray unit. Around the same time, Mattel offered the Entertainment Computer System (ECS), an underwhelming add-on module designed by a different group within Mattel than the ill-fated Keyboard Component seen earlier.

The ECS module had been developed somewhat secretly as a backup to the Keyboard Component, a project that had been repeatedly dragged down and delayed by a quagmire of over-engineering. When the FTC began fining Mattel for false advertising of its long-promised Keyboard Component in 1982, Mattel quickly rushed the ECS to market.

The ECS contained a very rudimentary BASIC interpreter and a simple music synthesizer program. For data storage, it included jacks that allowed users to save and load programs from a cassette tape. Nobody really cared either way, because the bottom fell out of the video game market that year.